Joe Calato developed the original nylon tip drum stick over 40 years ago. These sticks are made from only the finest American Hickory. They were the first company to install their own dry kiln so that they could control the manufacturing process from the kiln drying of the wood, to the matching and pairing of sticks. Joe Calato was also the first to upgrade the quality of the sticks on the market by grading them for straightness of grain, weight, color, and warp, and then match each pair.